


World Ain't Ready Coda Two: The Art Museum

by idiopathicsmile



Series: Keep it Steady [5]
Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:07:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25714783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idiopathicsmile/pseuds/idiopathicsmile
Summary: The Rivera Court in the Detroit Institute of Arts is bigger than Grantaire remembers, which is weird, actually. The last time he saw it, he was a tiny middle schooler, so if anything, it should feel smaller now. Of course, that would only work if Grantaire had gotten taller since eighth grade, and he pretty much hasn’t, but still. Looking up at the murals for the second time, he’s not sure he has the right to feel this awed.
Relationships: Enjolras/Grantaire (Les Misérables)
Series: Keep it Steady [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1865029
Comments: 31
Kudos: 542





	World Ain't Ready Coda Two: The Art Museum

The Rivera Court in the Detroit Institute of Arts is bigger than Grantaire remembers, which is weird, actually. The last time he saw it, he was a tiny middle schooler, so if anything, it should feel smaller now. Of course, that would only work if Grantaire had gotten taller since eighth grade, and he pretty much hasn’t, but still. Looking up at the murals for the second time, he’s not sure he has the right to feel this awed.  
  
It’s a rainy, muggy Saturday in July, and Grantaire is at the art museum with his boyfriend and his boyfriend’s parents. In a way, he’s glad for the rain, the way it’s plastered down even Enjolras’s magnificent hair. Something about all that wetness is a little grounding, somehow. As much as this scene feels like something from Grantaire’s wildest imaginings four months ago, it is real and he is real and so is the water dripping down the back of his neck. “It’s amazing,” says Enjolras’s mom. Grantaire should really summon up the nerve to ask her for her name again; they’ve had like twelve full-on conversations by now.

Enjolras glances over at Grantaire, as if looking for confirmation that it is, in fact, amazing.

“Yeah,” says Grantaire with feeling.

Enjolras scrutinizes the East wall, as if trying to see what they see. “Can you, uh, explain it a little to me?” he asks quietly.

This feels like a tall order; Grantaire hasn’t been here since his voice dropped, but he finds himself dredging up what he remembers from the tour, which was given to his group by an old guy with magnificent ear hair. 

“Okay,” says Grantaire, “so. The walls in here face the compass directions, and Rivera used that. With the symbolism, I mean. So you’ll notice on the East wall, you’ve got the harvest and a little growing fetus. Like, beginnings, get it?”

Enjolras nods thoughtfully.

“On the North and South walls,” Grantaire continues, “he did factory scenes. He made sure to paint all the races working together in harmony, which of course was a real stretch, but like, if a museum hires you to paint on the walls, maybe you kinda go, ‘well, screw it, I’ll paint what I want.’” Grantaire lets his eyes roam the South wall. “Oh,” he adds, “here’s a fun one. See the frowning white guy in the hat on the left?”

“No, where?” says Enjolras. “The one who looks like he’s--” Enjolras searches for the words.

“Constipated,” Grantaire supplies charitably. “Yeah. That’s the actual face of like, a manager or a supervisor or somebody whose job it was to fu--” public space, Grantaire remembers belatedly, boyfriend’s parents, he reminds himself, “screw over the employees. So Diego painted him like that in solidarity with the auto workers. Like, ‘Yeah, this guy sucks so let’s really capture that in all his about-to-pass-a-kidney-stone glory.’”

At the mention of class struggle, Enjolras perks right the hell up, which Grantaire should’ve really seen coming, he thinks with affection. Enjolras takes Grantaire’s hand, swings it jauntily between them. Even with the rainwater, even though they’ve been dating for nearly two months, Grantaire wonders for a dizzy second how this scene could possibly be real.

“Tell me more?” says Enjolras, and Grantaire does.


End file.
